The Bubbling Cauldron
by helpthehorriblelovethelonely
Summary: Harry wakes up the morning of his 17th birthday with a soulmark, like all witches and wizards do. He was excited to find his soulmate, but as the summer went on and his seventh year started, he became too busy to think about it. That is, until his soulmate insults his mark, and Harry feels like his heart has been ripped out. Soulmate!AU


Harry was at the burrow the night before his 17th birthday, after defeating Voldemort at the end of the school year, he no longer had to go back to his horrid relatives' home. He looked around at his surrogate family and smiled, wondering how he got so lucky as to be adopted by the crazy redheads. They had thrown Harry a birthday party, all of his friends were there, as well as all of the Weasleys. Harry had a great time, and now he lay in the spare bed in Ron's room, thinking about how happy he was to finally be able to live a relatively normal life without mad wizards chasing after him. He was also thinking about what he was going to have when he woke up the next morning.

Every wizard or witch once they reach their 17th birthday, receive a soul mark, somewhere on their body. The mark could be words, symbols, images, it didn't really matter. The marks were a gift from mother magic, a gift that helped you navigate the world to try to help you find your soulmate. Of course, nothing was guaranteed, and it was very possible that things had gone wrong along the way and your soulmate was dead, or you would simply never find them. although a lot of people had met their soulmate already before their 17th birthday, so it wasn't all bad.

When you received your soul mark, it would most likely look different than how it will look later on in your life. They also didn't have a mandatory body part that they appeared on. Most of Harry's friends had theirs on their wrist or their forearm, but he also knew that Mr. Weasley had his on his stomach, so it could really be anywhere. If your mark was just an outline, then it meant that your mate was 17, but you hadn't met them yet, if your mark was black and white and filled in, it meant you had met them but they weren't 17 yet, and then if it was fully colored your mate had turned 17, and you had met them. Harry was wondering what his mark would look like in the morning.

He remembered when Ron turned 17, and his mark was black and white but filled in, on his ankle, and it was of a book flipping through its pages. Ron had grinned, hoping that that meant what he guessed it did. Then, when Hermione turned 17, she woke up that morning with, to her annoyance, a colored, filled in image of a cartoon chicken leg, on her collarbone. Harry had laughed at her annoyance, but when Ron saw it and looked down to notice that his book had been colored in, he immediately pulled her into a kiss. Harry left awkwardly, what do you do when your two best friends start making out with each other?

Harry chuckled at that last thought before falling asleep peacefully. Harry woke up that morning and stretched, groaning a little as he sat up. When his mind finally came back to him, he leapt out of bed and ran into the bathroom, he needed to find his mark.

It didn't take long to find, although it was in a weird spot, and Harry wondered how he managed to even see the glimpse of it it without an extra mirror. He was thankful it wasn't on his face, which he had been a little worried about, the back of his neck would be okay, it would be visible yet not overbearing there, it was a nice spot, he thought. He had only spotted it by chance, and so he pulled a second mirror out from under the cabinet and positioned it so he could see the back of his neck. What sat there was a bubbling cauldron, steam from the potion moved up his neck and into his hair, and on the cauldron sat the letters HBP. Harry squinted, he felt like those letters seemed familiar to him, but he couldn't figure out what it was. The mark was filled in and in bright colors, the steam holding a tint of green to it from the bubbling liquid inside of it. Harry couldn't help but smile, he reached behind him and touched the mark softly, and he could feel the letters were raised from the rest of his skin, he could easily make them out with his fingers. Whoever his soulmate was, Harry was positive he would love them.

Harry had shown Ron and Hermione his mark, but they both were stumped by it. "the only person I know with an H and a P in their name Harry, is you. Are you sure your middle name is James? Maybe you're your own soulmate," he had teased, but Harry had frowned at the comment, causing Hermione to elbow Ron in the ribs. She also shook her head "I don't know Harry, but apparently whoever they are, they like potions," she smiled. Harry relaxed a little at her words, he would find them, he wasn't worried.

Harry kind of forgot about his mark for the rest of the summer, it was something he never saw, so he didn't think about it often. He actually was reminded of it for the first time sense his birthday when Luna had asked to see it on the Hogwarts express,

"Oh! Yeah, sure!" he said, turning around he showed her his mark, she just hummed and gave him a dreamy smile "I should have expected no less, Harry," she said airily, sitting down next to him,

"What do you mean?" he asked, but she just smiled more and shook his head,

"it is up to you and your soulmate to discover each other, it is best if others do not intervene," and that was the last thing he was able to get out of her.

He thought about Luna's words a lot the first week or so of school, but then after that he forgot about it again, until close to October. Harry had let Hermione give him a haircut the day before (it had grown out to be rather long and shaggy over the last couple of months), and when he walked into class, he felt weird as the breeze ran across his mark. He brought his hand up to rub it, something he did whenever he was nervous or upset about something.

Right now, they were in potions, and Harry was doing his best to follow along with the recipe, but nothing seemed to make sense, and to top it all off Snape was especially harsh with his comments that day. Harry sighed and just tried to pay attention, but he heard his professor step up to him from behind and he swallowed thickly.

"Potter," Harry could hear the sneer in the other man's voice, Harry tried not to wince,

"Yes sir?" he asked, knowing he sounded small and pathetic, he really didn't want to be here right now, but for some reason everybody thought he was going to be an auror and to be an auror you had to have newt level potions. He really didn't want to be one, so he really didn't need to be taking his class, but here he was anyway, he rubbed at his neck again. He could feel his professor's eyes go to it and still there.

"first of all, the board says to _dice_ the mukroot, and what you are doing is _mangling_ it," Severus sneered, Harry sighed and just put the knife he was holding down before he decided to stab his professor or himself, he reached for his mark again to calm him down. Even if it didn't do anything but sit there, it still calmed him to know that somebody was out there for him, he ran his fingers over the initials and sighed, "yes sir," he said meekly, removing his hand from his neck and rubbing his face under his glasses.

"and second of all," Snape continued "What is that horrid thing on your neck? Some tattoo you stupidly decided to brand yourself with?"

Harry stiffened, and all of his friends around him had stiffened, you didn't insult another person's soul mark, you just didn't.

Harry felt something like a brick drop into his stomach, he stumbled a little as if he was pushed. Someone had told him about this one time, what would happen if your soulmate openly rejected you, and suddenly it all made sense. The cauldron, the initials- Half Blood Prince for Christ's sake, he should have known that! It was hard for Harry to breathe, like something was wrapping around his chest and squeezing painfully, tears started to fall down his face.

"it is my soul mark, professor," Harry whispered, "but it seems that it doesn't matter, he doesn't want me anyway, does he?" he asked brokenly, before collecting his things and walking out of the room, his hand going to rest on the back of his neck as he walked away.

Severus watched him leave with his eyes wide and his mouth agape, what had just happened here? He had seen the mark on his neck and saw the half-blood prince initials on the cauldron, he figured it was some inside joke Potter had with his friends, but… it was his mark… Severus looked down at his hand which seemed bare, but he touched his wand to it and something appeared, he gasped at what he saw. On the back of his hand was his mark, which Severus noticed was suddenly not black and white anymore, his heart started to race. He hadn't taken the glamour off of his mark in years now, it only burdened him more as the years went by and his soulmate still wasn't 17, so he had covered it up. But now, fluttering around the back of his hand was a golden snitch, with the letters BWL written on it. he frowned, why would Potter have a mark that reflected Severus if his own didn't- he stopped short. BWL. Boy-who-lived. Severus had fucked up.

Severus turned to Harry's friends, a panicked look in his eyes, dawning suddenly appeared on Hermione's face, before fury replaced it. "You asshole!" she screeched, trying to lunge at her professor but Ron caught her and kept her from getting too close, no matter how much she struggled. The entire class gasped at not only her use of profanity, but her use of profanity _towards_ a professor. The others waited for Snape to react, but he didn't.

"You treat him like garbage for the last 6 years! And you belittled him and spit in his face anytime he ever did anything that he was even remotely proud of! You fucking asshole! And after all that it still wasn't enough for you?! You still had to keep bringing him down even farther?! Insulting his mark! In front of the entire class! Not just that but you basically just tore his heart out and threw it on the ground! Goddamn it- Ronald let me go!" she screamed as she struggled to get towards the potions master, how dare he hurt her best friend. How dare he reject Harry like he was nothing worth having. How dare he!

Severus stood there, taking in the insults she flung at him, she was right- he was an asshole, he had been abusing his soulmate his entire time of knowing him and he hadn't even realized it. He had just insulted Harry's mark. The mark that mother magic had put on his skin so he could find Severus. And he just called it disgusting, and referenced it to a brand, and Harry had stumbled out of the room because Severus had just rejected him without even knowing what he was doing.

Ron was holding Hermione back easily, but her flailing arms trying to reach over and land a punch on their professor like she had done to Malfoy in third year made it difficult for him to keep a good grip. "Professor," Ron started, somehow much calmer than the woman in his arms, but his eyes blazed with unspoken fury. "My guess is he's in the astronomy tower, and Snape, if you do not make this right, Harry has 6 older brothers that will race down here for him."

Severus swallowed and nodded, understanding that it wasn't just a threat, it was a promise. "class dismissed!" he called before taking off in a dead sprint.

Once he was out of their sight Hermione screamed in frustration, "you let him get away!" she said, smacking her boyfriend's shoulders. Ron just shook his head and hoped Snape would fix things.

-HHLL HHLL HHLL-

Severus ran, he ran from the dungeons all the way to the tower, never once stopping. He was at the base of the last flight of stairs to the astronomy tower and he tried to steady his breathing, but he heard sobbing coming from above him and he ran up the stairs two at a time.

Harry was laying on the floor of the tower, curled up into a tight little ball, clutching at his chest. It hurt, it hurt so bad. Harry knew you wouldn't die from your soulmate rejecting you, but it sure would feel like you had for the rest of your life. Why did it have to be Snape? Harry knew Severus hated him, has hated him sense before they even met. His heart let out another sharp pain as that thought crossed his mind, and a loud sob escaped him. He had promised he would love his soulmate, no matter who they ended up being, and it seemed he kept his promise if the pain was anything to go by. Blood was rushing in his ears as he sobbed, not hearing the door to the tower open.

Severus felt tears prickle in his eyes as he saw the boy lying on the floor, sobbing his heart out, and he knew he had caused it. He was the reason his mate was like this. He slowly walked over to where Harry was and sat next to him, before pulling him into his arms and holding him tightly.

Harry felt the arms wrap around him and he shook his head, "no! don't touch-!" he was cut off as the arms tightened around him, and the pain in his chest eased some, he just whimpered and buried his face in the chest in front of him, while the other person rubbed his back. Assuming it was Ron or one of his other friends, he whispered,

"He doesn't want me, my own soulmate doesn't even want me, how much more of a freak can you get?" he insulted himself, just curling up tighter.

Severus felt Harry squirm and then relax, he wondered if he knew who was holding him, his question was answered however when Harry started talking. Severus' breath caught in his throat, Harry thought he was a freak, that he was broken, and Severus himself had only reaffirmed that. He felt himself curl up protectively around the small man in his arms, as if trying to shield him from anymore bad in the world.

He took deep breath and decided to speak, "You are wrong." he whispered, he felt Harry jump and try to push him away, but he only holds him closer.

Harry jumped when he heard the person under him speak, he then tried to push away from him, another sob racking through him, but Severus only held him tighter. Harry cried harder. "You called it disgusting, you thought I had 'branded myself'. I didn't mean to be your soulmate, I'm sorry you are stuck with me and don't want me, I'm sorry okay? But please don't lie to me just because you think you owe something to the bond!" he was practically shouting through his crying, he hit the chest in front of him to try to get the other to let him go.

"Har-" Severus started, but he was cut off in the midst of Harry's squirming. "Harry-" "Harry listen to m-" "Harry!" Severus called for the last time, getting Harry to stop hitting him and still momentarily, Severus took his chance and kissed him. It was firm and soft and gentle and loving, all the things Severus thought Harry needed in that moment. Harry whimpered quietly but relaxed into the embrace and start to kiss him back, clutching Severus' robes in his hands.

When they pulled away from each other, Harry still had a few tears running down his face, Severus reached a hand up and wiped them away.

"I should not have been so rude," he started, "I should not have been so condescending. I thought it was a joke, you found my old textbook last year, you knew I was the half-blood prince, I figured you had gotten it as some prank, like a temporary tattoo just to humiliate me. I would have never believed it was your mark had I not been told," he said, running his fingers through Harry's hair. Harry wanted to resist but it felt so nice, he leaned into the touch and closed his eyes.

"When you said it was your mark, I was confused. Many people simply think I don't have a mark myself, but I do, I've just kept it under glamour's for a very long time. I've had it for 20 years now, and as each year went by where my soulmate was still not 17, I assumed they had died, or that by the time it had changed to color I would be in my 80's or something." He answered truthfully, his voice soft and gentle, "But you ran out, and I took the glamour off of my mark, and it was colored in, it was finally colored in. There are initials on my mark as well, B W L. But just as mother magic had used an old alias for your mark, she had done the same for mine."

"boy who lived," Harry mumbled, looking up at Severus with bloodshot eyes and a splotchy face. Severus nodded and continued to stroke his hair. "I realized what I had done once I saw my own mark had been colored in, I looked over at your friends, and miss Granger figured it out, and she was certainly not happy with me," he kissed another tear away.

"It seemed Mr. Weasley was the only thing keeping her from killing me," he gave a small smile, to indicate that it was a joke, but Harry knew he had to be telling the truth, he couldn't help but laugh softly. "'Mione is one of my best friends, she gets like that sometimes,"

Severus chuckled and hugged him tight "I am sorry for the pain I have caused you…" he whispered, placing his hand atop Harry's chest. "does it still hurt?" he continued to whisper.

Harry leaned into his touch and shook his head, "it eased when you picked me up off of the floor, and it stopped when you kissed me." He answered, Severus hummed before leaning in and kissing him again.


End file.
